AI to cancel bookings; Rlys to shuttle 'Rajdhanis'

The Railways has started  some Rajdhani-type special trains with an aim to clear crowds at important airports in the country –including Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

About 200 executive pilots have also joined the strike by pilots associated with the Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA). Taking this into account, Air India has decided to suspend the bookings for the next five days, a senior official said.

Earlier on Thursday, Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi met the Prime Minister to apprise him of the situation and later briefed the Cabinet. Ravi is understood to have said that he had taken a firm view of the situation and fully supported the action by the Air India management against the striking pilots.

He also apprised the Cabinet of festering issues that arose after the merger of erstwhile Indian Airlines with Air India which still remain unaddressed.

He informed the Cabinet that the combined annual salary of 28,000 Air India staff equals the annual salary of 1,600 pilots, which comes to around Rs 800 crore. The Minister also said that the talks between the Air India management and the striking pilots with the Chief Labour Commissioner N K Prasad ended without result. The Northern Railways have announced special trains from New Delhi to Kolkata and from Kolkata to New Delhi. Similar arrangement has been done between New Delhi and Mumbai, said the Railway Ministry.

These trains will run on Wednesdays and Thursdays. In addition, the Central Railway will run a pair of special train from Mumbai to Hyderabad. These trains are Rajdhani type fully air-conditioned super special trains and will have 1st AC, 2nd AC and 3rd AC coaches, said the railway ministry.

In addition, the Central Railway will run a pair of special train from Mumbai to Hyderabad. These trains are Rajdhani type fully air-conditioned super special trains and will have 1st AC, 2nd AC and 3rd AC coaches. These trains are available on PRS system for booking, said the railways.